April Fools Day at the Acceledrome
by SilverIcee
Summary: It's April fools day, and Ty has some pranks that are sure to get reactions.
1. April Fools Half Month

**April fools day would be so fun at the Accledrome, would it not? This was written from random inspiration.**

Ty slowly yawned and stretched. He glanced toward Taro's bed. Good, he made it back from his dinner date with Karma alive. Then he looked at the calendar he and Taro shared. Sharing a calendar was awesome, you could always figure out Taro's dates- Erm, appointments. That's how Taro listed them, but that had only worked for the first month with Ty. Fortunately for Taro, most of the other guys weren't that sharp.

His eyes wandered across the rows of X's. Hm, the page needed to be flipped. Taro must have been really tired last night. He jumped out of bed and walked over to it on tip-toe. If he was lucky, Taro would stay sleeping a little longer, and wouldn't remind Ty to comb his hair.

He flipped over the March page and gasped. What? April fools day already! He stood there gaping at it for a minute. How in the world could he have forgotten? It was only his favorite holiday, besides Christmas and his birthday, of course. Taro rolled over, muttering something in his sleep. Uh-oh. Ty stopped lamenting his forgetfulness long enough to slip out of the room before his older brother woke up.

Now, to think of some pranks. Good pranks. April fools day worthy pranks. How in the world was he to play April-fools-day-worthy-pranks on thirteen people in one day? The answer was, he couldn't. He frowned. There had to be a way. Suddenly, it hit him. Why limit April fools day to a day? What if he made it last a couple weeks? A different target every day for two weeks would do it.

He ran back into his room, completely forgetting Taro in his excitement, and grabbed the sharpie that was designated for the calendar. He drew a line running from April 1st to April 14th. Perfect. Well, it would have been perfect, if Taro hadn't woken up. "Ty, what are you doing?" He questioned. Seeing Ty with an open sharpie probably reminded him of the time Ty had drawn a mustache and beard on him while he slept. It took two days to wash it off, and the guys at his school had called him 'old man' for the rest of the semester.

"Nothing," Ty answered, innocently, praying that Taro wouldn't notice the calendar. Unfortunately, Taro could read him like a book. "What is that?" Taro asked, raising an eyebrow. "Um... April fools half month," Ty said, hopelessly hoping Taro wouldn't question him further.

Taro jerked up in bed. "It's April fools day?" He asked.

"Mhhmm."

Taro rolled out of bed and walked toward their small mirror, then gave an obvious sigh of relief as he saw that his face was as it should be.

"I haven't started yet," Ty had to explain why he was neglecting his duty.

"How comforting," Taro replied, wryly. "Now, about this, 'April fools half month,' don't you think one day is enough damage?"

"Taro. Thirteen people in one day. That's not possible, I need more time."

"Well..." Taro said, doubtfully.

"You'll only have one joke played on you!" Ty pleaded. Taro raised an eyebrow at that. "I mean, one April fools day worthy joke," Ty amended.

Taro half-laughed at that. "Okay, fine. I won't tell anyone. But be careful, and don't hurt anybody."

"You have my word of awesomeness," Ty said, seriously, and ran out the door.

Phew. He had escaped the questions, and Taro even forgot to remind Ty to comb his hair. This was going to be a good day. Now, who would be the first target. Not Taro, he would be expecting it, Tama would too, and she went to bed late last night, so she'd be in a bad mood. Never a good idea to mess with a grumpy Tama. Knowing Taro, he'd probably warn Karma, and he didn't feel like bugging Monkey. There was Porkchop, but Porkchop was kinda... Big. His prank would take a while to plan. The other guys would be too easy.

He needed a shower, they always helped him think. He headed toward the bathroom, then realized the shower was already running. Well, he better head to the kitchen, then. Food was scientifically proven to help your brain work. As he jogged past the bathroom, he noticed something lying on the little table near the bathroom door. Wait, what was that? He ran back, and his face broke into a grin. Perfection.

There, on the table, laid Shirako's headphones, Ipod, and that little wrist controller thingy he always wore. An amazing opportunity for a prank, but he had to hurry, Shirako wouldn't be in the bathroom forever. He quickly swiped the equipment and ran back toward he and Taro's room. Knowing Taro, he would already be in the kitchen. Good thing, too. He stuck the things into his sock drawer. Taro never looked in Ty's sock drawer, if he did, his OCD mind would force him to clean it, and that was a three hour task, at least. Then Ty took a pair of headphones that Tama had discarded after the wire broke, and some other small broken gizmos that resembled Shirako's stuff.

Now, he had to beat _this_ pair of headphones past recognition, otherwise, Shirako would know at once they weren't his. He considered using the blender, but the kitchen was always busy this time of day. He'd have to do it manually. Ty jerked a crowbar out of his tool box. In a minute, the deed was done. With an evil smile, Ty ran into the hallway, threw the pile of parts under the table and ran into the kitchen.

A little while later, the shower stopped. Ty took another bite out of his breakfast burrito and prepared himself. A minute passed, and then Shirako came in, wild eyed, with his hair still messed up. At least, it looked like Shirako. They couldn't be sure, though. I mean, since when did Shirako walk around so... Silently. Suddenly, he started yelling, jumping up and down, and acting like he had finally lost it. The other drivers looked at each other, all wondering what to do.

Shirako ran up to Nolo and began to shake him. "Nolo! Help me! HEEEELP!" When Nolo finally managed to shake him off, Shirako fell on the floor and began to rant about something none of them could understand. Ty watched, intrigued. He had never gotten such an explosive reaction before.

Nolo and Kurt were attempting to calm Shirako down enough to be able to understand him. Finally, he was sitting in a chair, his eyes were still haunted, but he was able to communicate. "Meh Headphones are-" Here he broke off and began to sob. Then found his voice again. "Missing," he finished.

Now all the drivers relaxed, this made sense. Shirako hadn't lost his mind, just his headphones. Taro gave a suspicious look in Ty's direction. Ty, meanwhile, was trying to maintain a perfectly serious, innocent look.

"We'll help you find them," Nolo said, "they have to be around here somewhere."

"I left them on that little table near the bathroom door while I showered, and when I came out they were g-gone." Shirako said, still attempting to keep from going back into hysterics.

They split up and began a through search of the Acceledrome, Vert peeked under the table, and emerged, eyes wide. He gestured toward Kurt. After Kurt saw what was under the table, his face paled.

"We'll get him another pair," he said to Vert.

"Yea," Vert agreed. Neither of them wanted to see what Shirako's reaction would be like if he saw what was under that table. Then Shirako himself rounded the corner.

"Uh-oh," Kurt said.

"He has impeccable timing," Vert muttered, as he and Kurt situated themselves in front of the table.

"Yo, dudes, did you look under the table?" Shirako asked.

"Yes! There's nothing under it!" Vert replied, hurriedly.

"Absolutely nothing," Kurt added.

Shirako wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?" He asked, bending down and pushing past them.

Kurt and Vert exchanged a look. This wasn't going to be pretty.

They were right. Shirako emerged with the parts in his hand, mouth wide open. Then there was a bloodcurdling scream. Everyone came running to see what the matter was. When they saw what Shirako held in his hands, they all knew at once. Ty made his face even more innocent. This was the best April fools day ever.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, they were all standing outside, next to a hole. Also near the hole sat a small box. In the box, what was left of Shirako's headphones. Or what they all thought was Shirako's headphones. Now they were all saying something nice about them before Shirako laid them to rest. It was Porkchop's turn.

"They are gone now, and that's what I like about them," he said gruffly. A new burst of sobbing came from Shirako. Monkey nudged Porkchop, "That's not the kinda things you say at a funeral!" He exclaimed. "Well. It's the truth, ain't it?" Porkchop retorted.

After everyone was done saying their final goodbyes to the pitiful pile of parts, Shirako set the box in the hole, and Tork filled it in. "Can I please have a moment alone with them?" Shirako requested. They all nodded and walked back toward the garage.

"I'm sure glad we convinced him to bury them in a box", Nolo said, after they were out of earshot, "I would feel so weird walking into funeral home and asking for a coffin to bury a pair of headphones in."

Everyone laughed at that, glad Shirako couldn't hear such disrespect for the broken gadgets.

Taro walked up to Ty. "Are you satisfied with how much he's suffered?" He asked, amusement in his eyes.

"Yea, but I can't really imagine walking up to him and saying 'here's your headphones, I swiped them off the table and substituted a pile of broken parts, you can stop crying.'" Ty answered, half grinning.

"Well, why don't you just set them on the table and he'll think they were resurrected from the dead or something," Taro suggested, almost chuckling himself. His little brother was such a handful sometimes.

"Good idea, in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say you've done this before," Ty said, now flat out laughing.

Taro smiled and shook his head as his little brother ran toward the garage. This would be a very interesting 'April fools half month.'

**For now, I'll leave it as it is. I may add more chapters later, depending on... Stuff. xD**


	2. The Curse

**So, I decided to post part two. Thanks XxmoonlitxX for the review!**

Now it was day two of April fools half month, 47 seconds past 8:43. Ty was out of bed and eating breakfast, listening to the drivers as he did so.

Shirako had almost made a complete recovery from yesterday's incident, and nobody but Taro figured out who was responsible. However, the others had determined it had to have been an April fools joke after Karma had drawn attention to the date, thereby saving Shirako the trouble of believing his headphones were mystical.

Ty was now trying to pick up some information that would be helpful for today's operation. So far, there was nothing of any interest, besides the fact that Porkchop had eaten 25 bags of beef jerky last night, and was now upstairs with a stomach ache.

He was about to give up and start form scratch when he heard a small argument at the Teku's table.

"Dood," said Vert, "that's all just a superstition."

Ty perked up his ears, superstitious people made excellent subjects.

"Everyone says that, Vert, but it's not! Some guy seriously got cursed 'cause he messed with this statue!" Nolo was hotly defending himself.

"Oh, come on, you have to be so gullible to believe that stuff!" Vert scoffed.

"Well it just seems kinda strange that some dude died a week after recovering this idol, and everyone said it was cursed and-"

Vert interrupted Nolo at this point with his laughing. Kurt just shook his head.

Ty smiled, he had just figured out his next target. He got out of his chair and ambled toward where Nolo and Vert were still quarreling. "Whatcha talking about, guys?"

Vert jerked a thumb toward Nolo. "Nolo thinks some statue is cursed," he smirked.

Nolo immediately began to defend himself all over again.

Ty pretended to listen to Nolo's explanation. When he was done, Ty innocently asked what the idol was called.

"The Kaeru Kumba, it was stolen shortly after the dude who discovered it died and has never been seen again."

Ty made his eyes as wide as they would go, and nodded seriously. "What do you think Kurt?" He asked. That was a natural question, and he wanted to appear as inconspicuous as possible.

"I think we should all stop arguing over such silly things," Kurt retorted.

After that, Nolo and Vert stopped arguing and Ty wandered off.

Soon, he made his way to his room. Grabbing his laptop, he lay on his bed and prepared to do some research. He pulled up firefox and typed in 'Kaeru Kumba idol." After studying the pictures and reading a few articles, he turned toward his desk.

"Gizmo, could you make a statue like this?" Ty addressed his small robotic buddy (and partner in crime.) Gizmo had been designed, built and programmed by Ty, and resembled a camera when he wasn't 'awake.' When he was in action, he resembled a large mechanical spider with his eight flexible legs.

Gizmo hovered closer, and after a minutes wait, during which he connected himself wirelessly to the laptop in order to analyze what Ty wanted him to make, Gizmo had his answer.

"That statue is made of stone. I am not equipped with the proper tools in order to carve stone."

"How 'bout a wood copy?" Ty asked.

"Possible. Estimated time: 2 minutes and 48 seconds. Required material: A piece of wood approximately 1 foot long, 6 inches wide, 1 foot thick."

"Could you make more then one?"

"If I had the required material."

"Great! I'll be right back." With that, Ty ran off.

Soon, he found Taro, standing in the hallway arguing with Tama.

"Tama, it's your turn to go shopping," Taro was saying.

"You agreed to trade turns so you could do that one race, remember?"

"I already-" At this point, Taro noticed Ty watching. "Do you need something, Ty?"

"Do you know of any wood I could use?"

Tama and Ty exchanged a look. "Use for what?" Tama questioned.

"Um... It has nothing to do with you or Taro. Promise."

"Well, Taro has to go to the grocery store anyway."

"No. I don't. I have already explained, I took my turn, and did your shopping, so now it's your turn."

"No you didn't!"

"Guys... Remember me? I still need wood." Ty was afraid his elder siblings may have forgotten him.

"Check in the workshop," Taro said.

"Thanks!" Ty exclaimed, and dashed toward the workshop.

Soon, he had many little copies of the statue, and was ready to begin.

He placed one in a box he knew Nolo would open, then hid behind a nearby pillar and waited.

Sure enough, Nolo walked in. And after verifying that the box contained his new tires, he opened the lid and gasped. "The Kaeru Kumba idol!" he stammered, and ran off.

Ty watched him go, the approached the box and removed the statue.

A minute later, Nolo came back, dragging a smirking Vert.

"It's my box of tires! Really, Vert, it's the creepiest thing you've ever seen!"

"I think you're imagining things," Vert said, shaking his head.

"Dude! I'm telling you! It's right- Nolo stopped mid-sentence. "OH MY GOSH! It's gone! Vert, it was right here and now it's GONE!"

"Well, I guess you won't have to worry about the curse, then." Vert's tone made it obvious he thought his leader was suffering from an overactive imagination.

"Hey! That's right! I never touched it! At least, I don't think I did, but then again..."

Ty left Nolo to worry and ran off to finish other business.

Nolo finally calmed down and removed the tires from the former resting place of the Kaeru Kumba idol, then walked to his car.

When he got there, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Then he dropped the tire he was moving and ran toward the lounge, yelling.

This time, all the Teku followed him to see what all the commotion was about, along with one or two curious Metal Maniacs.

Nolo stared at the empty spot on his hood where the idol had been just a minute ago, then began rambling about a curse. Everyone looked skeptical, and Karma and Kurt looked at each other and raised an eyebrow. Tama snorted out loud.

"Nolo, maybe you need to take today off. Just head to your room, take a nice rest, and we'll get the tires on your car car and stuff," Kurt offered.

Nolo looked at him accusingly, "you think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"No! It's just that sometimes when you're working hard, you can become... Delusional. And you deserve a break."

Nolo looked unhappy, but under the combined urging of his teammates, he reluctantly agreed to take the day off.

Ty grinned, if things went his way, Nolo's day off wouldn't be very relaxing.

Nolo opened the door to his room and threw himself down on his bed. Then he felt something hard under his pillow. His face went pale.

"Oh, please, don't let it be the idol," Nolo murmured, shutting his eyes. Then he jerked the pillow off, and opened his eyes slowly. It was the idol. He yelled again, and Vert walked in.

"What are you-" Now Vert's eyes grew big. "Is that...?"

Nolo nodded.

"Ya know, Nolo, I can think of only one thing to do when faced with a creepy, cursed and freaky lookin' statue."

"What's that?" Nolo asked, still looking dazed.

"Go get help!" And with that, they both ran back to where the other drivers were.

This time **everyone**came after hearing Nolo _and_ Vert's garbled account. But when they got there, no idol was in sight.

Now Vert and Nolo were trying to convince themselves that they weren't crazy. After a couple minutes of sitting there staring at each other, Nolo broke the silence.

"I can't stand it! They think we're insane!"

"Maybe for a good reason," Vert said, still staring straight ahead.

"How can you say that!" Nolo screamed, "WE ARE NOT CRAZY!"

"Well, how are we gonna make them believe that?" Vert asked.

"Easy! We'll show them the statue."

"But it disappears when we go to get them..."

"What if we picked it up and brought it to them?"

Vert's eyes got even bigger, "and risk getting cursed? You are crazy!"

"Vert, I'm obviously already cursed; can it really get any worse?"

"Well..." Vert trailed off.

"I'll do it whatever you say, save your breath" Nolo snapped, and marched out the door. Vert watched him go, then shrugged and went to the lounge.

Nolo went to the kitchen for a glass of water, and, just as he suspected, a small idol was sitting on the sink. Nolo hesitated for a minute, then grabbed it as if he was afraid the statue might run away by itself.

"Ha! Now they'll have to believe me!" He jogged swiftly toward the lounge.

Ty, emerging from behind a nearby cabinet, watched him go. Oh well, it had been fun while it lasted.

Nolo entered the lounge. "I got it!" He exclaimed, holding the statue where everyone could clearly see it. Everyone looked surprised, and Taro immediately took it out of his hands and began to examine it.

"This isn't the Kaeru Kumba idol," he stated.

"How do you know?" Nolo retorted.

"Because, the real idol is made of stone, this is wood. However, it's a rather good copy." Taro replied, a little smugly.

"Then what is it?" Vert asked.

"I'm not sure what, but I do know _why._"Taro answered, still turning the statue over in his hands.

"**Why?**" everyone chorused, with the exception of Shirako, who was too absorbed in his music, and Karma, who asked the same question with her eyes.

As an answer, Taro turned the idol upside down and and handed it to Nolo, pointing to something on the flat bottom.

Nolo took the statue, and his face turned red as he read aloud what was printed on the bottom. "April fools! Guess who!" Then Nolo looked up and glared at all the other drivers, who were trying unsuccessfully to keep from laughing. Vert helped him.

"Someone's in trouble," Nolo's voice was full of pure menace.

"Hey, Nolo, it was a joke. Let it go and move on," Tama said. She was probably the only one who dared, as she wasn't under suspicion; she had been at the store. (So she could be out argued...)

Nolo looked sulky, then he started to smile. "I acted like an idiot, didn't I?"

Most of the others nodded, laughing, and Vert and Nolo joined them.

So ended day two of April fools half month, Ty had just begun.

**Hmmm... Now that I've done two, I guess I'm stuck with finishing them. I'll just have to wait for some **i**nspiration. Or one of you could help me out, it would be appreciated. If I could decide on a character, the prank shouldn't be hard to think of.**


	3. The Invitation

**Whoo. Finally got it done. Sorry it took a while. NaNoWriMo, school, and life are making me busy. **

Ty was awakened by the sound of his watch alarm. Blinking drowsily, he glanced at his wrist, then groaned. His watch had malfunctioned. Three O'clock was _not _what he had set the alarm for. No matter what anyone thought, Ty _could _get grumpy. He was grumpy. He had told Taro he needed a new watch. He had tried to make a new watch, but Tama was too busy to make him a wrist-strap. Today the entire Acceledrome would meet Ty-the-Grump, and they'd be sorry. Tama and Taro and Monkey and Porkchop and Kurt and- He stopped.

Kurt. That name had some special meaning this morning... Then it all became clear. Kurt was today's target, day three of April Fools half month, and Ty _had _set his alarm for three O'clock. Ty, now in his normal, happy go lucky, hyper, cheerful mood, jerked out of bed.

Still in his pajamas, Ty slipped past his sleeping brother and got his laptop out. After about half an hour of typing, he was done. He nodded at his handiwork, then closed the computer and crawled back into bed.

xxxxx

Four hours later, Kurt woke up. He stretched, then slowly rolled out of bed. He made his way into his half bathroom. Still yawning, Kurt glanced at his reflection. His hair was in passable condition, and there was nothing special going on today, so he simply combed through it, then walked lazily down the stairs into the area that served as a dining room.

Sitting down on the bench next to Vert, who was already involved in a lively debate with Shirako over who was responsible for the Idol mishap yesterday, Kurt glanced around. "What's for breakfast?" He asked, sniffing the air cautiously.

"Biscuits, eggs and bacon," Lani answered, entering just in time to hear his inquiry.

"That sounds-" Kurt was interrupted by a thumping noise, and in a minute, Ty appeared, taking the stairs four at a time. Taro followed in a more sedate manner.

Ty came to the end of the stairs, and strutted to the middle of the dining room. "Ty is in the house!" He announced, pretending to speak into an invisible microphone.

"Yo, shrimp," Shirako replied, grinning.

"Yo, geek," Ty retorted, good-naturedly.

"Good morning, Taro," Tork said.

Taro grunted, and then headed to the kitchen. He needed coffee this morning. While he was gone, Tama came downstairs, looking disheveled and rather grumpy.

"Good Morning, Tama," Ty chirped, munching on one of the biscuits Lani had carried in.

"Nothing good about it," Tama grumbled, glaring at Monkey, who was sitting in the seat she had decided she wanted.

Taro returned with his coffee, and after downing the mug, turned his attention to Tama. "How'd you sleep last night?" He asked, rather slyly, no doubt noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

Tama glowered at her brother. "If you really must know, I slept terribly."

"And it's the rest of us who will suffer." He lamented, studying his empty coffee cup.

Tama snorted, and the rest of breakfast was moderately peaceful, except for a large argument over whether tomatoes were a fruit or not. After everyone was done eating, they sat around and talked or wandered off to their various rooms.

Kurt went into his room, sat down at his desk and got his laptop out. Pulling up his email account, his eye caught a familiar name. Miles Hundry. His mind raced over what it could mean. Miles Hundry was a well known former Grand Prix racer. He had retired a couple decades ago with a nice bunch of titles in his name. Why would Miles Hundry be contacting him? He opened the message and began to read:

_Mr. Wylde._

_It comes to my attention that you are an extremely talented and overlooked young driver, and I would like to offer you an amazing opportunity. You see, ever since I retired, have been pining away for a taste of the races. I'm sure you are well acquainted with that feeling._

_It just so happens that I have quite a bit of money, and nothing to do with it. So, I have made the decision to sponsor a young driver who is down on his luck and put him back on the racing scene. I happened to come across your name in an old Magazine, and decided that you were perfect. Since then, I have been trying to find some way to contact you. Luckily, I met an old buddy who still works on the track and he was able to supply me with your email address. _

_I happen to be residing around the same area as you at the time of this writing, and would like to discuss this further in person. If you are interested, please meet me at The Black Castle at five O'clock, 5/7/12. Dinner is on me._

_Sincerely, _

_Miles Hundry._

Kurt finished reading and simply stared at it for a few minutes, smiling slightly. This was a golden importunity. He looked at the date again. That was today. This guy gave short notice. Jumping up, he went through his closet, hoping he had something suitable to wear.

xxxxx

Meanwhile, Ty was painstakingly trying to copy Taro's handwriting. As he tried to figure out how Taro made his Ds in such a fancy, yet neat, manner, Ty had a look of almost Taroish concentration on his face.

"What are you doing?" Taro suddenly appeared in the doorway of their room.

Ty slammed the notebook shut. "Nothing."

"Do you mean nothing, or something you don't want me to know about?" Taro asked.

"Nothing," Ty repeated, stubbornly.

Taro gave him another skeptical look, then shrugged. "Be careful."

Ty rolled his eyes. If Taro could go through life with one sentence, it would be 'Be Careful.' "Whatever."

"Now you sound like Tama. At least I sound like myself," Taro said, smiling at little. It almost made you think he could read Ty's mind. Maybe he could. Ty had the kind of eyes that people called 'windows to his soul.' Taro and Tama were thankful they hadn't inherited them, even if they were one of Ty's good points.

"A little privacy please?" Ty hated it when his elder siblings did that- thing- they did. Sitting there and staring at you as if they could see everything you were thinking. Hated it.

"Okay, Shrimp. Don't get into too much trouble," Taro turned and walked down the hallway.

Ty watched him go, thoughtfully. Did Taro really expect him to stay out of trouble? No. He had said too much trouble. Ty was going to come awfully close this time, though. He slowly finished the last few lines, and then looked at his finished handiwork. Perfect. So perfect, that if Taro saw it, he would probably rack his memory trying to remember when he had written it. Ty smiled, and slipped it into an envelope.

xxxxx

Karma and Tama were still sitting in the dining room. After eating, Tama had perked up, and, while you could hardly say she was in a good mood, she wasn't in a bad one. "So, I heard that you and Taro had a nice time Sunday night," Tama's face was fairly innocent, but her tone reflected nothing but mischief.

Karma looked up and gave the younger girl a withering look. "Isn't that a bit immature?"

"I don't have to worry about being mature. Taro's the mature one. It's me and Ty's job to make sure he doesn't become too perfect."

Karma shook her head slightly. "And I daresay you do a good job of it."

"Thank you," Tama's grin was a sudden flash of white teeth and was gone as quickly as it came.

Karma contented herself with an irritated glance at her, and then pointedly turned away. Generally, she and and Tama stayed on good terms, but the younger girl was being completely immature today.

Tama smirked and tossed her head. She knew when she had won. Normally, she didn't bother Karma, but the temptation to annoy her about Taro was too much, and Tama happened to be in an exceptionally ornery mood. Even for her. She turned as she heard a thumping noise. Wylde walked in a zombie like manner downstairs, the last to wake up by at least an hour. Yawning, he automatically choose a seat next to Tork. Tama's smirk deepened. "'Morning, Marky. Glad you finally decided to join us."

Tama both confused and intrigued Marky, for various reasons. She was smart, athletic, and, he had to admit, gorgeous. But also snappy, snobby and on the border of being downright cruel. Did he mention how unpredictable she was? One minute she would be dissing him as if he was the most hateful being alive, the next she would be complimenting him on some small item of no consequence. Sometimes Wylde thought she might actually like him, other times he knew she hated him. He himself couldn't untangle his feeling towards this strange creature known as Tama. "I went to bed late last night," he defended himself, giving her a dark look.

"Video games again?"

Marky glowered deeper, and Tama laughed. Wylde turned away, "is there anything left to eat?"

"Eggs and a little bacon," Tork replied, nodding at the kitchen.

Soon, he was eating and exchanging insults with Tama, Karma watched disapprovingly. Some people never grew up. She got up and walked up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. She reached for the knob, and then paused. There was an envelope taped to the door. Karma tore it off and carried it in with her. Closing the door, and sat on her bed and read:

_Karma,_

_I would like to cordially invite you to dinner tonight at the Black Castle. I would invite you in person, but walls have ears. Especially two ears belonging to an exceptionally small personage who goes by the name of Ty. If you would like to meet me, I ask that you come at four thirty, I will join you presently, though I may be a bit late. _

_Sincerely, _

_Taro._

Karma smiled and folded the letter up neatly.

xxxxx

At exactly 5:07, Kurt drove into the parking lot of the Black Castle. Stepping out of his car, he looked around. The Black Castle was a somewhat high-end restaurant that prided itself on its classy looks and flawless reputation. The kind that made people like Kurt fidget and wonder if their ties were on straight. He walked hesitantly into the building and was greeted by a horse-faced waiter who looked as if he was smelling something unpleasant.

"Good day, Sir. What may I do for you today?" The man's tone was stiff and precise, and made Kurt more nervous then he already was.

"I'm, um, waiting for an, uh, friend." Kurt said, then realized how silly he sounded.

"Perhaps he is already seated?" The waiter suggested airily. "If you give us his name, I can tell you if he's already here."

"Miles Hundry," Kurt gave this information with a firmer voice then he had used before.

"I do not believe anyone with that name has been here today. Would you like me to get you a table and let him know you were looking for him?" the man offered, still in a bored and rather snobbish voice.

"Yes." Kurt accepted quickly. "Please." The please was a quick afterthought.

"Follow me." The waiter moved toward the dining area, head high and back straight.

As they walked, Kurt glanced around, still feeling awkward. Shouldn't Mr. Hundry be here already?Then he saw a familiar face. "What are you doing here?" He questioned, surprised.

"This is Mile Hundry?" The waiter asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

Karma looked up, and after a moment of surprise, gave the waiter a look of annoyance. "I'm meeting someone. What are you doing here, Kurt?"

"You got the message?" Kurt was now completely taken aback.

Karma's brow furrowed, then she realized what he had just said. "What message?"

Kurt was confused, disoriented and annoyed. He hadn't felt this awkward since high-school. "The message inviting you here too-"

Karma cut him off. "What?" She caught herself, then clenched her jaw, swallowed and continued. "Kurt. Do you mean that you're the one that invited me here?"

"No, it was Miles. I think," Kurt was astonished by the tone that Karma had used. Why would she be angry with him? This was too confusing. He wished it would all just stop. Halt. Cease to be.

"Miles?" Karma managed to control her tone, despite her blazing ice blue eyes. Had Kurt actually dared to forge Taro's handwriting and expect her to accept that? And who was Miles?

"Miles Hundry, he invited me here. It wasn't me that invited you."

"Miles Hundry? The Grand Prix racer? Really, Kurt. I'd think you could think of something better than that," Karma's dignity was hurt, and she got up angrily and walked toward the door.

"What?" Kurt watched her go, completely bewildered.

"So. Mr. Wylde, would you be staying?" The waiter asked, nose in the air.

"I... Don't think so..." Kurt said, and made a hasty escape.

xxxxx

When Karma got back, she marched to her room to cool off. She couldn't believe the nerve of that... Thing. Her thoughts fumed, but she kept her face as impassive as possible, even her eyes showing cool indifference. She stopped at her door again. There was an envelope taped to it, an identical copy of the last. She ripped it off and opened it in the hallway. The letter was typed, and was but a simple

"_Dear Karma. _

_I am the mysterious (At least, I like to think of myself as mysterious) person that is responsible for inviting you to the Black Castle. It was a joke on Kurt, and a daresay he suffered more than you. He had nothing to do with it. Promise. _

_The person of chaos and amazingness."_

Karma finished reading it, frowned, and shook her head. As she'd said before, some people never grow up.

**Poor, poor Kurt. Anyhoo, I don't think it's as good as the first/second chapters, personally. :P**


	4. The Camping Trip

**Hello again. I have tons of projects and this one had just slipped my mind for a while. Sorry 'bout that. Anyhow...**

Watching the clock, Ty sat in his room, flipping furiously through his notebook. What he would do without his notebook, he had no idea. In fact, he was almost certain that survival would be close to impossible. His notebook had important notes about his inventions, prank ideas, indispensable information about friends and acquaintances, and many, many other kinds of invaluable information. But today he was looking for a victim for day four of April Fools Half Month. It was almost nine O'clock, and he had already rejected the idea of targeting Tama, Marky was too tired to react correctly to a joke, Taro's prank needed more preparation if it was to be pulled off successfully, and Karma needed a break after yesterday.

He was just about to give up and start daydreaming about it, which usually came up with a decent result in about half an hour, when his eye caught something. In his notebook, under the 'Information About People' heading, was a short, scrawled line. But an extremely important line, the key to today's operation. He jumped off the bed and headed toward the room of a certain redheaded truck driver.

"You want me to do what?" Porkchop was almost bellowing, and Monkey, watching from down the hallway, looked a little anxious.

Ty made his eyes look as innocent as possible, and used his best, 'I'm a cute, harmless little boy' voice. For an almost fourteen year old, he was terribly good at it. "Well, I thought that since I fixed your car three times, helped you build a motorcycle, and assisted Monkey in fixing up Smokey, that you could, you know, do this one little thing for me."

Porkchop looked at him grimly. "I dun't like camping." He stated, gruffly. "Why don't your brother go with you?" With that, he turned to go, but Ty ran in front of him.

"Taro's busy. Please, Porkchop? It's just one night. I have the tent and sleeping bags, and stuff." Ty looked at him, mentally bumping the softness and sparkle of his eyes up until they were at their highest level. This took talent, and effort. However, it was so effective that even his siblings could often be swayed by it. Ty sniffled a little, just to add to the effect.

Looking awkward, and rather insecure, the truck driver looked a bit disconcerted. "Come on, kid. Dun't do that... Why da ya want me to go, anyhow?"

Ty promptly began to beam at him in the manner of a pleased five year old. "Because you're so much fun!"

"Awwh..." Porkchop blushed, and shuffled his feet. Ty smirked inwardly; the victim had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.

xxxxx

So, here they were, 50 miles from nowhere. Porkchop was now ready to take a nap after listening to Ty's incessant chatter for the entire car trip. Unfortunately for him, Ty had no intentions of allowing this, having brought sugary snacks and being cooped up in a car the whole time, he was ready to do stuff, and Porkchop was going to help him, like it or not.

"Hey, Porkchop! Help me set up the tent! Do you know how to set up a tent? I forget how, so I hope you know how." Ty was studying the many parts of the collapsed canvas structure that he had 'borrowed' from Taro.

Porkchop ambled in that direction with a tired manner. "Uh... I think this part goes 'ere. And this 'un goes 'ere..." His brow furrowed as he attempted to get it together. Ty grinned, and thoughtfully munched on a corn chip. This was going to be fun.

After Porkchop had finally gotten the tent together, he was tempted to climb inside and sleep until the next morning, but Ty had other plans. "Come on! Let's go hiking! There's an awesome hiking trail this way!" He grabbed the redhead's hand and pulled him in the other direction. Reluctantly, Porkchop followed, but slowly, very slowly.

An hour later, Ty had dragged him through three miles of wilderness, and Porkchop doubted they were on the trail anymore. "Kid, I think it's 'bout time to be headin' back." He said, slowly.

"Okay! But first we need to get unlost." Cheerfully, Ty chirped this over his shoulder, smiling blissfully as he ran a little further into the woods, his energy never failing.

Porkchop started, looking quite shocked. "Lost? We're lost?"

"Well... I think so. I mean, I don't know where we are, so we must be lost, unless you know where we are, which I don't think you do."

Looking rather confused, Porkchop had to admit that he did not, in fact, know where they were. Ty greeted this statement with a cheerful smile, explaining that the only way to get unlost was to wander around until they knew where they were. So they wandered around for a couple hours, until they met a park ranger, who was quite happy to end their lostness. By this time, the burly redhead was sure that Ty was tired out. Sadly, he forgot that Ty was a small creature of amazing stamina.

Seeing that his caretaker was preparing to take a nap, Ty decided that could not be allowed, especially since his stomach was starting to protest the late lunch. "Porkchop! I'm huuuungry..." He whined, obviously used to regular meals.

"Can we wait for a little while?" The truck driver pleaded, without getting off the air mattress set up in the tent. "It's almost dinner time..."

Ty's lower lip began to tremble, and his eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "But I'm starving. Please, Porkchop?"

Well, Porkchop could hardly say no. Soon, hotdogs were being cooked, and Ty chattered as they cooked. "Hey, Porkchop." He said, suddenly.

"What?"

"Your hotdog is burning." Ty explained, happily, as he took a bite out of his own hotdog, then watched Porkchop try to salvage what was left of his lunch.

The rest of the day continued in this manner, Ty making sure Porkchop didn't stay still for half a minute, and Porkchop hopelessly wishing for a nap. Finally, it was time to go to bed. Ty curled up in his sleeping bag, saying a cheery goodnight to Porkchop, then attempted to fall asleep.

It was doubted whether the redhead even heard him, as he fell asleep as soon as he laid down on the air mattress.

About five O'clock in the morning, Ty woke up to rain pattering on the roof. Perfect. Just like the forecast had said. He smiled and laid there for another moment, then got up and poked Porkchop. "Hey, Porkchop. It's raining."

"Hunmh?" Still half asleep, Porkchop groaned slightly.

"It's raining." Ty stated again, looking up. "Hey, Porkchop. Do you know what happens if you touch the roof of the tent while it's raining?"

Porkchop, looking quite nervous, wasn't even listening to his small charge. "No. What?"

Ty touched the top of the tent, and a leak started, drip dropping on the redhead's nose. "That's what happens." He explained. "But that's not what we _really _have to worry about."

"What do we really have to worry about?" Jumping back from the mattress, Porkchop looked extremely worried, watching the monotonous drips with a fearful expression.

"Flash floods!" Ty exclaimed, peeking out of the tent. "They can sneak up on you in a matter of moments, then KAPOW!" Here Ty made a dramatic gesture with his hands, making his redheaded 'supervisor' jump. "You're floating off down the current, and then it pulls you under, and-"

Porkchop cut him off, obviously not wanting to hear what happened after you got pulled under. "I dun't think that'll happen 'ere." He interjected, hastily.

"But I think it will!" Ty persisted. "I found the best, lowest, most flash flood prone site there was. I've always wanted to be in a flash flood."

Porkchop began to tremble. "We gotta get out of here." He said, though he made no moves to get out of tent and into the rain.

"But... But..." Ty looked heavily disappointed.

"Now." Porkchop stated, as thunder crashed. He ran across the clearing, climbing into the car quickly.

Ty followed at a slower pace. "What about the tent, and food and stuff?"

Porkchop waited until he was in the back to answer. "We'll get it tomorrow."

Ty shrugged, turning to hide his smirk as Porkchop put the keys in the ignition. Just as he expected, the car spluttered, but didn't start. Porkchop was now looking terrified. He tried again, and got the same response. "Sounds like there's something wrong." Ty said, brightly.

"What! But... I just had it checked."

"Maybe the squirrels got in it. The squirrels ruined Taro's engine once."

Looking terrified, and muttering something about the blasted squirrels, flash floods and camping trips, Porkchop slowly got out and walked to the engine, all but petrified with fear. He discovered that a spark plug needed to be replaced. Coincidentally, Ty had a replacement spark plug in his backpack, and after about half in hour, in which Ty helped himself to more snacks, they were ready to go. They began the long journey home, Ty again beginning to talk. 

After getting lost seventeen times, stopping and asking for directions five times, and two restroom stops, they made it to the Acceledrome just in time for breakfast. Porkchop, however, excused himself and went upstairs to take a nap. Ty watched him go, smiling slightly, then took a bite of the pancakes on his plate.

Taro watched him, faint amusement in his eyes. "So. How'd it go, Ty?"

Ty stopped for a moment, chewing thoughtfully, then grinned. "Awesomely." Then he went back to his contemplation of today's prank, looking forward to another excellent day of April Fools half month.

…**...Poor Porkchop. My best friend helped with the concept for this chapter, credit for the camping trip idea goes to her. Reviews would be appreciated, as always. =)**


End file.
